Briscoe Park basketball courts to be named after Amanda Riley

SNELLVILLE – As a young child, Amanda Riley fell in love with basketball.

Now, the memory of the 17-year-old Brookwood High School student who passed away after a battle with cancer will be linked with the game forever.

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On Monday, the mayor and council approved a measure which named the basketball courts at Briscoe Park the “Amanda Riley Courts” in her honor. Plans are to place a plaque there with her name on it when a refurbishing project is finished at the courts in the years to come.

“There’s nothing in this world that Amanda enjoyed more than being at her church and playing basketball,” Amanda’s mother Barbara Riley said. “She started playing when she was about 6 years old and she once wrote a paper when she was in elementary school that said she felt like Superman when she was on the court. We lived our life running from sport to sport and from court to court. And I’m the giving person but I accept this. This is the most giving wonderful gift you could give to her dad and myself. She loved basketball and our goal is to keep her memory alive and her smile alive and you’re definitely keeping our smile alive by approving this, by there being courts in her name. I cannot thank you all enough.

The Rileys have been a fixture in the battle against childhood cancer and have been instrumental in keeping the fight in the public eye locally through their efforts and through the website www.amandarileyfoundation.org since Amanda died in 2010.

Also at last Monday’s meeting, Mayor Kelly Kautz declared September Childhood Awareness Month in the city as 6-year-old Eleanor Young accepted the proclamation naming the month with her mother. Eleanor is battling leukemia.

Gold ribbons have been placed on lampposts near City Hall and city employees have been wearing T-shirts declaring their support for childhood cancer awareness.

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And at the Oct. 12 council meeting, Kautz will be taking a pie in the face from anyone who donates $200 or more to the Amanda Riley Foundation.

“In this time of campaigning we are spending tens of thousands of dollars on the campaign,” Kautz said. “It would be nice if we could have some spent that goes to a good cause.”